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When do I need a stairlift?
How do I choose the right stairlift?
How much should I pay for a stairlift?
Are my stairs suitable for a stairlift?
How much will it cost in maintenance?
What happens when I no longer need my stairlift?
Need Help Choosing a Stairlift
When do I need a stairlift?
Purchasing a stair lift does not mean ‘admitting defeat’; but quite the
opposite. It can be simply liberating to avoid the need to move to a
bungalow or a rest home. Unfortunately many people purchase
stair lifts as a last resort, when they simply cannot climb the stairs
any longer. It’s often a better idea to think about buying a
stair lift sooner rather than later to avoid any unnecessary
difficulties or accidents. Why struggle in the early days when
you may still need to make a stair lift purchase later in life?
Example 1
Some years back, I personally fit a stair lift for a couple who had just
retired at 60 and 65 years old. They were fit and played golf.
We asked his main reason for the lift purchase. His response was
that he was simply preparing his house ready for the time he required help
with stairs. Now 10 years later we still regularly service the same
stairlift which both himself and his wife use daily.
Example 2
We used to fit stairlifts for a local council, and often would arrive
to find that the client was sleeping downstairs because they couldn’t
manage the stairs. Unfortunately on many instances, we would need to go back
to remove the stairlift soon afterwards, because the customer was too frail to use it.
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How do I choose the right stairlift?
With
lots of companies selling stair lifts, now is an excellent time to
purchase as prices are simply very competitive. A1stairlifts do offer
some of the lowest prices around! You will find that most
companies will send a sales representative round to visit you in your
home free of charge. Some companies will only sell their
own products, and others (like A1 stairlifts) are free agents and can
sell any make or model. Each stairlift model, although similar, has
different benefits and some are more suited to a particular staircase
than others.
A1 Stairlifts don’t have any salesmen. Instead we send an
engineer to survey the stairs and offer advice on the best type of lift
for each job, dependant on individual needs and means! A survey should
never need to take longer than an hour.
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How much should I pay for a stairlift?
For
a new straight stair lift you should be paying between £1275 and £2250,
and for a reconditioned straight stair lift you should pay no more
than £1500.
Curved stair lifts are more difficult to set price guidelines as they
are made to measure for your staircase. For a new curved lift you
should be looking at between £3750 to £7000. For a reconditioned
curved stair lift pay no more than £4500.
Click here to read about the pros and cons of buying re-conditioned stair lifts.
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Are my stairs suitable for a stairlift?
Stairlifts
simply fit directly to the treads of the stairs, not to the wall so it is not necessary for
the lift to be next to an external wall. If you can answer yes to
questions one and two below, and be flexible on question 3, we can fit a
stairlift on your stairs.
- Are your stairs more than 27 inches in width, stringer to stringer?
- Is the stair angle between 38 & 54 degrees?
- Are your stairs clear of obstructions such as wall
heaters radiators etc? If not these obstructions can often
be moved!
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How much will it cost in maintenance?
Regarding maintenance, you
should treat a stair lift as though it was a car. Stairlifs do have
moving parts and they do need some form of maintenance. There are simply two ways to deal with this. Either pay for a
maintenance contract or a simple annual service, or pay when the stairlift breaks
down. An Annual service with A1 Stairlifts costs just
£65. We recommend you have your stair ilift serviced each year to
avoid costly repair bills.
Example 1
Mr Brown buys a stair lift but doesn’t take out a warranty or have an annual
service. His stairlift works fine for 5 years, but then breaks
down. He rings round for an engineer and is told that the
next appointment date is in 2 days time, so must be without a lift
for 2 days. When the engineer arrives he finds it needs new
rollers, and a replacements trailing cable because he has continued to
use the lift with parts which should have been replaced some
time ago. The lift also needed a new PCB, so the total cost of
his repair was £1000.
Example 2
Mrs Smith buys a stair lift from a large well known stairlift
manufacturer and pays for an additional full warranty to cover her for
5 years at a cost of £595 pounds. Everything goes well, but
during her annual service (included in her £595 extended warranty) the
rollers were found to need replacing. However the large company
whom she purchased the stairlift from class this as ‘ normal wear and
tear’ as stated in the small print of her contract, so she still
has to pay for them at approx £150. A simple annual
service at £65 is really all that is necessary to cover your
starilift. You may have to pay for any necessary additional
parts, but this does not often exceed the cost of any extended
warranties available from the larger companies.
Example 3
Mr Jones buys a stairlift and decides to have an annual service each
year at approximately £65 per service. This option keeps his lift in
perfect order and if parts are showing signs of wear he is advised to
change them before they cause major problems. Costs are kept to a
minimum!
As you can see from the above examples, option 3 spreads the cost
over the life of your stairlift, and gives peace of mind that the
stairlift is in tip top condition and more importantly safe to use,
without costing a fortune.
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What happens when I no longer need my stairlift?
Purchasing a stairlift is much the same as any other
purchase, like for example a computer or a television. I’m sure you
wouldn’t expect a retailer to purchase your old TV back from you! Some
companies will offer to buy
back your stairlift as an additional sales offer, but do be aware that
ultimately they will offer you a very small amount for it in comparison
to the initial purchase price. You may get slightly
more for your straight stairlift because, although they cost less than
curved lifts, they can be worth more and can often be used
again. Straight stairlifts
can be made to fit other stairs easier by shortening or lengthening the
track, whereas curved tracks are made to measure. Click here to read more on this.
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Need Help Choosing a Stairlift
If you have any trouble deciding which of the stairlifts would best fit your stairs, then contact us. We will quickly help you determine which stairlifts would be most suitable.
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Please call us on 0808 178 8487 or use the contact us page.
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